Accelerated Development in the Biological Offspring of a Metacrisis
by LVB
Summary: Nobody can predict the effects of a cross-genetic pregnancy, not even the Doctor. Tentoo x Rose. Romance with a tiny bit of quickly resolved angst.
1. Chapter 1

**Accelerated Development in Cross-Genetic Biological Offspring of a Metacrisis**

**Author: **LVB/phantompopcorn

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who is wholly owned by BBC.

**Rating: **R

**Pairing: **Tentoo x Rose

**Summary: **Nobody can predict the effects of a cross-genetic pregnancy, not even the Doctor. Tentoo x Rose. Fluff with a tiny bit of quickly resolved angst. Originally written for the sistersofguh 2013 Valentine's Day Ficathon on LJ.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

o0o

Approximately eighteen hours after leaving Darlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay, really, because the Doctor didn't ignore coincidences unless he was very, very busy), the Doctor found himself in a rather enjoyable position. It had started out innocently enough, of course.

Pete had sent a zeppelin and off they went with barely a word to one another. The Doctor had shared amused glances with Rose when Jackie wailed on the phone to her 'baby', which as it turned out, was Pete and not Tony as he had originally thought. After that, the rest of the flight was spent in deep thought.

With his still-new human emotions racing through him, the Doctor had spent much of the trip wondering if Rose even wanted him. It was daft, really, not to mention completely exhausting, especially considering that if his calculations were correct, Rose was about to fall apart all around him in about ten seconds.

Human hormones were bloody brilliant, if he did say so himself. They had opened the door to the spare bedroom in the mansion and within 2.34 seconds, Rose's lips had been on him and there were hands in new places.

Which brought him to the current and most pleasing situation he found himself in. A wave of pleasure rolled over him and he wondered just why he hadn't spent two regenerations shagging Rose Tyler. Or, to be precise, being shagged _by_ Rose Tyler.

"Doctor," Rose moaned from her position on top of him. A fine position, too. Her hands gripped the headboard and he really hoped Tony's room was the one down the hall and to the left.

She leant down a little bit which made the Doctor's view even better, if it was at all possible. He took the opportunity to capture Rose's rather delightful nipple in his mouth and gently caress her back. He felt his own tension mounting as Rose let out another spectacular moan.

"Oh Rose, you brilliant girl," the Doctor enthused as she let go of the headboard. His predicted ten seconds were coming up and as she leant back and forcefully grabbed onto his legs, he felt her clench around him. And it was that feeling right there, of being warm and encased totally by Rose that had the Doctor tumbling into the vibrant throes of ecstasy , following Rose into the wonderful abyss.

It took a full five seconds for the Doctor to come back to reality. He turned to Rose, who had climbed off him in the interim. She sported a fine sheen of sweat but the Doctor found himself rather elated at the sight of her.

"Hello!" he grinned at her, finding himself still a little short on breath (and kicking himself for not using his respiratory bypass previously in an effective manner when he still had it).

"Hello," she said back. "That was-"

"Oh yes," he agreed, shifting to make room for Rose under his arm. Without a moment's hesitation, Rose adjusted herself and pulled the duvet up around them. The Doctor supposed there was a chill associated with that beach in Norway that Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, could probably never shake.

Luckily for her, though, he was at least here to keep her warm this time.

A part of him wondered why he was immediately at ease with the entire stretch of domesticity in front of him. Here he was, lying in bed after a shag and cuddling and all he could think of was making sure Rose was comfortable. Naturally, he still thought of other things, like the small piece of his TARDIS nestled in the oversized pockets of his blue suit with pockets bigger on the inside or the fact that his ability to perceive timelines was slowly changing. He still thought about Donna and Jack and whether or not the other him was still wearing the brown suit.

Rose closed her eyes and shifted her head. "M'glad you're back."

He had seen many things in his near millennia but the sight of Rose's hair splayed over his arm and her face, her face still glowing from their wonderful episode of human entanglement was most definitely the greatest.

o0o

A loud and insistent thumping interrupted the Doctor from his deep and rather surprising sleep. Neither he nor Rose had moved which meant at least forty seconds of manoeuvring his arm (not his regeneration arm, at least) away from her. The door knocking continued and increased its frequency as the Doctor wondered how on Earth Rose could possibly sleep through such a thing.

He grabbed the bright pink bathrobe which hung proudly on the doorknob to the closet and without a thought as to who might be on the other side of the door in the Tyler mansion, flung it open.

He immediately looked down to find a six-year-old Pete Tyler doppelganger. "You're the Doctor," he stated matter-of-factly.

The Doctor grinned. "Glad someone's convinced!" The Doctor stuck his hand out.

"Pleasure to meet you! I'm the Doctor!"

Tony eyed the Doctor's proffered hand with suspicion. "Mum said you are Rose's boyfriend but _I_ don't believe her. Rose doesn't have boyfriends."

And there he was, the Oncoming Storm with one heart, wearing a pink bathrobe that was displaying his rather fetching knees and grinning like an idiot. "Well," he started, running a hand through his hair and crouching down to Tony's height. "Maybe you should listen to your mother. Knows a lot, she does. _Well,_ about this anyway. _Well_, mostly..."

He waited a moment but Tony stuck out his hand. "I'm Tony."

The Doctor grinned and accepted his hand, shaking it firmly. "Tony Tyler. The man, the mystery. I'll tell you what, Tony Tyler, of the Tylers, I'm going to go find Rose Tyler, also of the Tylers and let her know that Tony Tyler and the Doctor are now official friends. And you, Tony Tyler of the Tylers, specifically of the Tylers of _this_ house, can go and eat your breakfast."

Tony pondered his conundrum for a moment. "Okay," he finally decided. "Maybe I'll see you and Rose later?"

He stood, stretching his still-displayed knees, careful not to lift the pink robe too high. "Oh Tony, you can count on it."

Satisfied, the mini-Tyler bounded off down the hall. It was bizarre, really. He had been in Jackie Tyler's home and it occurred to him that she now had spare bedrooms with hallways. Human life, he thought, never ceased to surprise him.

Now that his meeting was done and dusted, his thoughts wandered back to the sleeping pink-and-yellow woman in the bed, who had hardly moved during the night. He scanned the hallway a last time and closed the door, making sure to create as much noise as possible.

Rose always did sleep too long.

He recalled evenings where he would walk past her room, urging the TARDIS to orchestrate a rough landing or sound an alarm. She never would and he would wait ever so impatiently for her to start their next adventure.

That was when they had all the time in the world between them. Today was the first day of the rest of his one human life and he intended to make the most of it, which he could not do when Rose, who was still tucked under the covers, not a scrap of skin showing, was sleeping.

That would not do.

So the Doctor did what any normal half human, half Time Lord would do and pulled back the covers, expecting the rush of fresh air to shock Rose's pink-and-yellow naked body into waking up and spending the day in Pete's World together.

Except Rose didn't wake up, she only stirred and spread an arm onto the side of the bed where his one-heart body should have been, which was completely lost on the Doctor.

Because where a flat stomach was last night when he had trailed a dozen kisses, was an unmistakable rounded pregnant belly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

o0o

The Doctor stared at Rose's inflated belly and wondered if it was possible that she had swallowed a Dorax egg. Under the circumstances, it was highly unlikely. Maybe she had contracted a stomach-altering bug from Norway? Still, unlikely.

She shifted slightly and the Doctor surprised himself by jumping back slightly. He felt horrible about it, really, but unless he was going mad, which was the most likely solution out of the whole lot, Rose Tyler was pregnant.

And not just a little bit pregnant. A little bit pregnant, he could probably deal with. He hadn't been half-human for long, but somewhere in his transformation, the part of him that had loved being a father had risen back to the surface. If Rose was a _little_ pregnant, they could cheer and bicker over names and finding out the sex, but oh no. There was a defined baby bump on her and that usually meant a _lot _pregnant which meant that something strange was going on.

Oh, he usually thrived on strange but that was before he wound up with a missing heart. And Rose..._Rose_.

They had been reunited for not even a day and he had already ruined everything. He stole another look at her, lying naked on the bed. Out of habit, his hand flew to his pocket to retrieve his screwdriver. His hand touched the soft material of the pink robe instead, reminding him that he'd be without until the new TARDIS was operational.

So not only did he have a mysteriously pregnant Rose Tyler, he was without any means to try and find out what exactly was happening. He ran a hand through his hair as she shifted again. The Time Lord in him thought about every horrible thing that could be wrong. He couldn't perceive timelines properly anymore and that set him on edge.

However, there was a completely new feeling that came along with his one racing human heart. If Rose was actually pregnant, he would be a father again. How his one heart could cope with everything mystified him. Humans were, simply put, completely amazing.

All emotions aside, he really needed to come up with a plan. Every second contemplating his navel left Rose in potential danger. He just got her back and he wasn't going to lose her. TARDIS or not, he was going to find out what was happening.

Which meant waking Rose.

He ran a hand through his hair and decided that this was going to be difficult. Would she blame him? Well, that much was obvious. Humans didn't just wake up pregnant overnight, did they?

He frowned. Did they? He made a note to investigate at a more convenient time. All signs pointed to alien interference and he was the only half-alien about so that placed the blame squarely on his shoulders _again_.

Just as he tried to find his wavering human courage, Rose made things easier for him by lazily opening her eyes, looking right at him. If the weight of the world wasn't resting on Rose's stomach, he would have enjoyed the feeling of waking up with her for the first day of the rest of their lives. Seeing as he was the Doctor though, trouble invariably followed. She stared at him for a moment and he remembered he was wearing the robe. Trust his beautiful Rose to notice his attire before noticing the rounded belly currently attached to her.

"Doctor?" she croaked, still not fully awake. "Why you wearin' that?"

He opened his mouth to say something, anything. He could talk for _days,_ he could. He wanted to tell her it'd be alright and that it might just be a Dorax egg but then again, it could possibly be an impossible, unlikely rapidly growing foetus with both human and Time Lord aspects that was accelerated for reasons he couldn't determine without a sonic or a TARDIS.

Instead, his more baser human instincts (disgusting, they were) betrayed him and rather than talking or showering Rose with affection and reassurance, he stood in his pink robe completely gobsmacked, because in the few moments he had stolen to ponder the existence of the universe, her stomach had grown.

Rose looked at him curiously and then followed his line of sight. She looked at him again and then back to her stomach. The next second was a flurry of movement and sheets and the duvet and then Rose was running into the en suite bathroom.

He felt frozen to the spot for a moment as he heard Rose gasp from the bathroom. How was he going to explain this to her? Quickly, he followed her in. The bathroom was rather large, nearly rivalling the one he kept in his quarters on the TARDIS. It had Jackie all over it. All the Doctor cared about though, was Rose. She stood in the middle of the bathroom, the beige-coloured sheets wrapped around in a manner that did nothing to hide her. She was staring at the oversized mirror that was not-so strategically placed in front of the toilet.

Her hands gently roamed over her pronounced stomach, gently pressing and poking. She sported a look of fascination and wonderment, rather than the look of complete fear and anxiety he had expected. But then again, Rose always did surprise him when it counted the most.

"Rose?" he pressed and walked around to her. She let the sheet slip a little further, all pretences of modesty out the window. "I don't want you to panic." She whipped around to face him.

"Panic?"

And then, she surprised him again. Instead of the Tyler slap he had come to expect from the women of her family, Rose simply burst out laughing. He stared at her, confused. Judging by the size of her stomach, in human terms, she was about five months along. He had no point of reference for Gallifreyan pregnancies- his children had been borne of the looms, like the others.

Maybe the hormones had driven her mad, because she wasn't stopping. He put his hands on her shoulders, tucking them under the sheet. "Rose, you need to listen. I need to get you somewhere where I can access a scanner. I don't have the TARDIS, so we'll need to-"

"Doctor, I'm _pregnant_," Rose announced half-way through his hurried speech. He _had_ noticed that. "We only did _that_ last night, an' blimey I'm the size of a _house_."

"Rose, I'm not sure. It might not be what you're thinking. Dorax eggs have-"

She shook her head. "Doctor, where would I have found a Dorax egg? We've been together less than forty-eight hours and _look at me_."

He reached for his ear subconsciously. "A side-effect of the cannon maybe? Did Norway have an outbreak of any stomach viruses?"

She tore her eyes away from him, looked back into the mirror and back at him before letting out another soft laugh. "Now I really know it's you." He stared at her as she rubbed a hand over her stomach.

"What?"

She shook her head and charged back into the bedroom. He followed quickly behind her, worried that she wasn't realising the scope of the situation. She still hadn't answered him. "Rose?" he pressed again.

And then she did something rather startling. She laughed. Not a nervous giggle, not a lilting song but the type of laughter that came from years of friendship and joking and something that was really, hysterically funny.

Now he was worried. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Rose?"

"Oh Doctor," she said, her hand reaching up to stroke his face. "I have you back and you're here, in the spare room at the Tyler Mansion and you're wearing Mum's spare robe after we just shagged for the first time and bloody hell, Doctor, it looks like I'm pregnant."

The Doctor fought the urge to be sick. "Hold on, this is _Jackie's_ robe?" Rose nodded through her laughter and as she snorted, he removed the offending item from his half-human and completely naked body. "That's disgusting."

Rose erupted into more giggles and the Doctor reminded himself that it wasn't the time for laughing. He eyed her bump again and, although she probably hadn't noticed, he was positive it had grown again.

If it was what he thought it was, and he was rarely wrong when he thought things, then they really needed to get Rose to a scanner. He might've had human instincts, but his Time Lord brain had already done the calculations and if this was an accelerated pregnancy, then time was, as always, ticking.

So there he was, completely starkers, and trying to find a way to break it to Rose that things were definitely going pear-shaped. And blimey, he _hated _pears. He placed his hands on the sheet that was now dangling over Rose's changing form and slipped it off.

"Rose, you're going to have to trust me. I need you to put some clothes on and pack a bag."

And then, the laughing stopped. It cut through the Doctor like a knife. This was always the part of travelling with Rose he had hated- her fear. She was brave, his brilliant Rose and she could rage at Daleks on the best of days. She could defend the Earth, loads of them probably, and the only thing she couldn't defend herself against was the onslaught of a human-Time Lord metacrisis. He had done this to her.

Her hand dropped to her stomach. "Oh my God," she whispered, feeling it. "I'm pregnant." Her simple statement spurred him into action and in less than ten seconds, he was back in his blue suit, hanging his jacket on the hanger where the robe once sat. Cleaning it would have to wait. Rose hadn't moved and as the Doctor went to grab her dark trousers and blue leather jacket, he realised that it probably wouldn't fit.

He took a gamble and opened the closet, finding a few items that were presumably Jackie's too. He cringed as he grabbed a matching tracksuit, remnants of the life the Tylers had left behind.

Rose took the items wordlessly and the Doctor lent his support as she slipped on the garments. Even with the slightly bigger clothing, Rose's stomach poked out defiantly against her otherwise slight frame.

"A bag?" she asked him as he threw on his jacket and toed on his trainers. He looked around the room and saw nothing.

"I'll send someone. If I'm right, you'll outgrow anything you pack here anyway."

"Doctor, where are we goin'?" Rose asked quietly. She had been so full of life earlier and he recalled every moan she had made as they had made love the night before. What he was going to say next made him ill, but it was his only option. Pete's World was different and seeing as it had Rose Tyler's ringing endorsement, maybe the world wouldn't descend into chaos.

"We're going to Torchwood."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

o0o

At the mention of Torchwood, Rose perked up. It was something tangible that could actually help them. Without the TARDIS or even the sonic, their options were limited. They could hardly walk into a hospital and ask for a scan. Torchwood was _really_ their only option.

"Torchwood. Right," she agreed. "We've got medical facilities there. Scanners, stirrups- you name it. Torchwood is good." Rose then groaned. "Doctor, have you thought about how we're gonna sneak out?"

For a human-Time Lord metacrisis, sometimes he was thick. Thickety thick. He stared at her and then at the door, horrified. "Both out of the house and into Torchwood? Dunno if you noticed, but the Tylers are always in the media over here. And if we want to get transport straight to Torchwood, we're gonna need Pete."

"Which means Jackie," the Doctor filled in.

"Which means Mum," Rose confirmed. "And she is going to be mad."

Jackie Tyler was mad but the Doctor kept that to himself for the time being. Rose's safety was his priority at the moment and he needed to get her to Torchwood as soon as humanly possible. The phrase struck him as odd as his brave Rose steeled herself for the onslaught.

"We need to get there, Doctor. If it all checks out and I'm really havin' a baby, which by your reaction, might be coming sooner rather than later, we need to bite the bullet, yeah?"

All he could do was extend his hand.

o0o

"Oh there you are!" Jackie's high-pitched voice wailed as the Doctor and Rose entered the dining room. "We've been waitin' for you all morning. Tony said you were awake ages ago!"

Tony and Pete sat at the table, Tony tucking into breakfast and Pete was reading the newspaper. Jackie was mercifully in the kitchen, although the Doctor remained unsurprised at the volume her voice carried. He gripped Rose's hand tighter.

"Just ignore her," Pete said cheerfully, not tearing his eyes away from the paper. "Or she'll get stuck into you about the pink robe Tony says you were weari-"

His gaze had fixed on Rose.

"Rose, what happened to your belly? Did you eat a watermelon?" Tony asked from his spot next to Pete.

"Dad, we're gonna need a ride to Torchwood," Rose offered as Pete continued to gawk. His eyes sped from Rose to Doctor and back again, slowly piecing together what was about to send Jackie into a tailspin.

At that moment, Jackie Tyler walked into the dining room. "Torchwood? But you only just got back! I'm sure the Doctor doesn't want to spend his first day here at Torch-"

The plate of toast Jackie was holding fell to the ground and her hand flew to her mouth. In a second, Pete was standing, sending Tony back to his bedroom and flipping open his phone, direct number to Torchwood.

The Doctor breathed in and stepped forward, standing between Rose and Jackie. "Now, Jackie, we don't have time for this. We have to go."

Jackie shrieked in response. "What the hell have you done to my daughter?"

"Mum, it's not his fault," Rose reasoned from behind him. "We don't even really know what's goin' on, yeah? Dad's sendin' for the car and we're going down to Torchwood to sort it all out."

Jackie shot the Doctor a vile look and weaved around him to Rose. "But Rose, you're pregnant!"

"Is Rose having a baby?" Tony asked from the doorway. Jackie began to fuss over Rose and the Doctor bent down in front of Tony. "Tony Tyler. I have a really important job for you to do. Is that alright?"

Tony took a moment to think. The sound of Pete barking orders and Jackie and Rose talking in hurried tones distracted him seemed to distress the boy and the Doctor hoped the whole mess would be sorted soon. After all this was over, if he was going to be a Dad again (and sooner, rather than later), he would owe his child and Tony a day filled with jumping castles and clowns and balloons. "Tony, I need you to go upstairs to your room. I want you to find all the toys and clothes you can find that you don't use anymore. Can you do that for me?"

Tony nodded enthusiastically. "Is it for the baby?" The Doctor ruffled Tony's hair in response.

"Tony Tyler, I reckon you can keep a secret. Rose is having a baby and I'm betting by tomorrow, you're going to be an Uncle."

Tony grinned in response and ran off just as Pete shut off his phone. "Jake's sending the car and the lab is being set up," he confirmed. He blinked a few times and motioned to his arguing wife and daughter. "She didn't slap you?"

He rubbed his face, feeling a phantom slap from two regenerations ago. "Not yet." Pete nodded and leaned in close. "Is it possible it's something else?"

The Doctor sighed. With each passing minute, Rose's stomach grew. That meant the human-human-Time Lord foetus inside too was growing. The time for suspicion and doubt was gone. Deep down he knew exactly what they were going to find on the Torchwood scan. They were going to find a baby growing at an accelerated rate, with partial Time Lord physiology.

It wasn't a matter of what they would find anymore. It was a matter of why it was there to begin with. Overnight conception was a rarity, even amongst the stars. Everything about Rose seemed normal but there was still so much he stood to lose. He had only just gained his life and he didn't want it all crashing down around his feet. He didn't want to waste his second chance.

He ran his hand through his hair. "No."

Pete nodded in understanding and the pair of them moved towards the still bickering Rose and Jackie. Pete gently placed his hand on Jackie's arm. "Jacks, they've got to go," he said calmly.

In typical Jackie form, she wrestled her army away from Pete. "Then I'm goin' too." The Doctor locked eyes with Rose. He didn't want any unnecessary stress but time was short and an argument with Jackie was going to waste even more time.

"Fine," the Doctor muttered just as there was a knock on the door.

"Pete? It's Jake," a voice called out. "Lab's ready and the car's here."

Rose extended her hand and the Doctor grabbed it instinctively, giving it a quick squeeze. "We'll figure this out, I promise you."

Rose gave him a soft smile and he fell in love with her all over again. "Yeah, I know. We always do."

He ignored Jackie's hysterical instructions to Pete about what to do with Tony and tried to calm his pounding singular heart. Two would have thumped right out of his chest, already.

"Alright you two, let's go then," she moaned. "Bloody Torchwood."

Rose squeezed his hand again and he wondered what he had done to deserve the comfort of the beautiful, pregnant woman beside him.

o0o

Torchwood was nothing like he expected. For one, the exterior looked run-down and was an eyesore. Once they cleared security, it was a lot of people with earpieces, running up and down hallways.

Jake had escorted them through the hallways and nearly everyone had stopped to stare at Rose. Most of them had respect enough to keep their distance from their ranking officer and Jackie had already barked at them to shut their gobs more than once.

The Tylers were certainly to be feared. Finally, they had arrived at the lab and the Doctor had sprung into action. He set up scanners and even without his sonic, managed to alter the equipment to his liking. It wasn't as thorough as his technology on the TARDIS but by Earth standards, it was more than adequate.

The Doctor had averted his eyes as Jackie had helped Rose into a Torchwood-issue paper gown. Jackie had rolled her eyes as the Doctor looked away. "I know how you two got into this mess so don't go lookin' all innocent."

"Mum!" Rose scolded as she tried to maneouver herself onto the bed. The voices of Jake and the guards outside drifted through and the Doctor imagined their presence here was making its rounds around the base.

The Doctor finally stole a look at Rose as Jackie positioned a blanket over her legs, leaving her stomach exposed. She had grown again. "You don't have to stay. I'll be fine, really," Rose tried to reason with her as the Doctor began to attach small electrodes to her stomach. "What about Tony?"

Jackie waved it off. "Pete's got it under control. Maria's comin' in to look after him so Pete'll be here soon."

"Everythin' alright?" Rose asked and the Doctor knew she was trying to keep the blind panic out of her voice. He was trying to put a brave front on and she was following suit. Defenders of the Earth didn't panic and neither did the Doctor. Mostly.

He gave her a tight smile. "Why don't we take a look and see?"

The machine Torchwood had acquired wasn't from Earth and if the Doctor was correct, was used on a species that carried more than one offspring at a time. The machine would scan Rose's womb and display the image in holographic form and feed the data through to the supercomputer hooked up on the side. The Doctor briefly wondered how often Torchwood would come across alien pregnancies but pushed the thought from his already racing mind.

There was only one alien pregnancy on his mind right now. Well, half-alien in any case. Probably closer to a quarter but that was something the fancy now-beeping machine would tell him.

Suddenly, the screen on the computer lit up and a 3D image popped up between him and Rose. Rose gasped and the Doctor's one very fragile heart skipped a beat. There, on the screen, was the outline of a baby.

Rose's hand flew to her mouth. The Doctor wished it was him sitting next to her, holding her hand instead of Jackie, who was equally mesmerised by the squirming image in front of them.

"Oh my God! It's a baby!" Jackie shrieked. "Rose, would you look at that!"

The Doctor felt relief wash over him as he stared at the perfect, tiny, quarter of a Time Lord child floating in the space between him and his perfect, beautiful Rose. "It's actually a baby," Rose added, her hand now outstretched as if to touch the image in front of her. Her other hand rested on her stomach and the image shifted to show the baby reacting to her touch.

"Doctor," Rose breathed, her eyes still transfixed. "That's..."

"That," the Doctor said, trying to maintain composure when all he wanted to do was scream and cry and maybe jump on that couch over there, "is a baby." He stared at the image a little longer. "Rose, move your head to the left a bit."

She did and her eyes lit up. "Is that a...?"

He couldn't help but grin and nodded in response.

"What? What is it?" Jackie asked, trying to lean over Rose to see what she was seeing.

Rose gently pushed her back. "Mum, it's a boy."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Jackie had squealed and kissed both Rose and the Doctor on the cheek. Moments later she had stormed outside to call Pete and to give them a bit of privacy. Rose had been content to stare at the image of their son while the Doctor went through the data that had been streaming on the supercomputer. He had managed to smuggle a pair of his glasses in his pockets after he had left the TARDIS days ago and he was a bit mortified to find that he really needed them in this half-human body.

"It's amazin', isn't it?" Rose breathed as she watched the baby react to her touch. "Doctor?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, he seems to really like it when he feels you," the Doctor answered honestly, as his eyes scanned the data. They had slipped into the routine of expectant parents seamlessly and that would have worried him before. The whole thing was a mix of alien and domestic and as long as the data told him that the baby was healthy, he would thrive in it.

And then the Doctor found what he was looking for. The machine had analysed blood and chromosomal samples of both Rose and the baby. The answer to the mystery of the overnight quarter Time Lord child was staring at him in the face. Every memory of being a father crashed into him as well as every fear about having children again. This would have been a nightmare in his old body but now, he would never have to face the idea of outliving his son or Rose.

He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Was his baby's conception a bad thing? The data indicated that he had a completely healthy son as long as the labour went well. His son would be born in a matter of hours and then grow as a mostly normal human child. The scan indicated his DNA was a double-helix with elements of Time Lord physiology. He had yet to test his own body but he suspected it would be rather similar. So, the baby was safe and it was a relief, but there was still the matter of explaining to Rose how he had got there so quickly in the first place.

Rose mistook his silence for bad news and the Doctor's heart broke as tears sprung to her eyes. "That's just not fair!" she said quietly. "I can see him and he's fine so don't you tell me he's going to come out lookin' like an old man or with horns or anything!"

He looked horrified. "Horns? No, no. He's going to be fine, Rose. His ageing is a result of the pregnancy. It'll return to normal once he's born." Rose visibly relaxed but as always, knew there was something else.

"And?" she prompted. He realised that him sitting across from her was far too much distance so he took Jackie's spot on the seat next to the bed. He held her hand and once again marvelled at his luck.

"Rose, I won't lie to you. This was an accident."

Rose rolled her eyes and gently slapped his arm. "No, you reckon? Of course it was, you daft alien! Nobody plans to get knocked up by a Time Lord metacrisis the first time they have sex," she reasoned. When she put it that way, of course he was a daft alien. Bad way to start an awkward conversation.

He cleared his throat. "Quite right too. What I mean is, I really thought that even with this...body, we wouldn't be compatible."

She looked at him, urging him to continue. "But?"

"Well, I was half right. Which is better than being _completely_ wrong, I suppose. Technically, we're compatible enough to procreate but your body wouldn't be able to sustain a pregnancy. But Rose, as always, you throw everything out the TARDIS doors when it comes to things like this.

"You've travelled not only on the TARDIS and through the Time Vortex, but through the Void and through different dimensions. You've looked into the heart of the TARDIS and survived. Instead of abandoning the fertilised egg when it detecting the Gallifreyan physiology, it ran with it instead."

Her face crinkled and the Doctor just wanted to kiss her nose. It would have to wait as Rose tried to process the information. "So," she started, shifting her body up on the bed, "you're sayin' that instead of getting rid of the baby, I grew it faster?"

He nodded. "Exactly."

Her eyes narrowed. "How fast are we talking? I've grown since this morning, Doctor. How long am I gonna be like this?"

This really wasn't how he had planned his one life when the other version of him had left him on the beach in Norway. He would have spent some time wooing Rose and travelling around Earth and growing the TARDIS. He would have played hard to get but ultimately decided to work for Torchwood. He would have warmed to the idea of children with Rose and they would have planned it out together. They would have at least nine months to prepare for their arrival.

"How. Long?" Rose punctuated. He cringed and looked at the blank wall behind her.

"About three hours," he answered honestly. "Maybe four. Then you'll go into labour. It'll probably be shorter than most. Natural Gallifreyan pregnancies usually are. Rose, we'll probably have him here in the next six hours."

The Doctor felt horrible as he saw Rose process all the information he'd given her. It had been an age since he had dealt with pregnant females of any species, so he figured Rose was coping quite well.

She was quiet for a moment and the Doctor took the time to switch off the still-present 3D image of the baby. He would be here soon and he and Rose would have all the time in the world to stare at him for hours on end. He found himself excited at the prospect.

"I'm sorry," Rose finally said.

He was baffled. "What for?"

"For all this," she said gesturing to herself. "I mean, I'm not sorry that we're havin' a baby. But I bet when he flew off in the bloody TARDIS you never thought he'd be leavin' you here to be so domestic so soon."

It had only been two days, but the fact that she'd come to terms with the fact that he was still the Doctor, had filled him with an unquantifiable happiness. She had accepted the fact that he could offer her a life together. Why couldn't she see that even if it was on an accelerated schedule, there was nowhere else he'd rather be?

It dawned on him that even though he had whispered those words to her on the beach, he hadn't said it again. They had a silent trip on a zeppelin, an awkward conversation about sleeping arrangements and they had fallen into each other's arms moments after.

She knew that he was the Doctor and he had told her so many times that he didn't do domestic. _One adventure I can never have_. Except here he was; living it. It had been 48 hours and and he was _free_.

"Oh Rose," he whispered, bringing her hand up to kiss it. "I meant what I said on the beach. I have only one life, Rose Tyler. And the sooner we start it together, the better. And you, my precious girl have given me everything."

Rose let out a soft laugh and wiped away a stray tear. "I meant it too. On the beach- the first time. Nothing's changed. Well, except I helped build a dimension cannon and passed my A-Levels."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Rose Tyler. You are brilliant." And he leant over and as Rose's lips gently pressed against his own, he knew there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

o0o

He'd rather be anywhere else right now, but the Doctor was stuck with the imbeciles of Torchwood. Jackie had stormed back in and while Rose filled her in, Pete had finally arrived. The man had a busy schedule, being the director of Torchwood and head of Vitex but he still managed to assemble a team of medical doctors who were currently trying to convince him to allow them to perform tests on Rose.

"That is not going to happen," he reiterated. Every second wasted telling Torchwood employees to bugger off was too much. They were on a countdown and they had already wasted nearly a half hour of his time. Time with Rose was precious and it was only two and a half hours until her predicted showtime.

"Think of what we could learn," one of the older doctors stressed. "it might completely change the way we view alien gestation."

"What do you mean alien gestation? Rose is human!" the Doctor yelled back, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry but it's just not happening. Not to Rose, not now, not next time, not ever. I am perfectly capable of delivering my son. Thank you for the use of your facilities, but as soon as he and Rose are well, we'll be leaving."

"Doctor, don't you think it's wise to have back-up? Her pregnancy is unique and anything could go wrong. I don't want to see Rose or my grandson in any trouble because you were too busy to notice the heart monitor flatlining," Pete added. "Just take the team and they'll be under your supervision. They won't lay a finger on Rose or your son, you have my word."

Some of the older doctors bristled at the comment, but Pete glared them down. "Fine," the Doctor finally agreed through gritted teeth. "I'll take three. And nurses. You, you and...not you, you just ate a pear. You," he said, picking three of the younger looking doctors at random.

Pete looked mollified and dismissed the rest of the team. "I mean it," he barked at the three doctors and nurses who were scrubbing in. "Not a finger on her or the baby unless you have his permission."

The doctors scurried off and the Doctor rubbed his face. "I'm sorry," Pete said, gesturing for them to return to what was now called the Birthing Suite. "I just want the best. These are the best. Dr Harper has delivered four alien babies now. You picked well."

"I know you're sorry," the Doctor sighed. "It's just a bit mental, Pete. One minute I'm getting used to having one heart and the next it's being occupied with thoughts of Rose and the baby. I haven't even had time to get new clothes," he said, gesturing to his blue suit.

Pete chuckled. "While you were raging in there, I got a message from Jacks. She's organised to have things sent here. There's also now a team at the mansion setting up Tony's old nursery."

He hadn't even thought of where they'd put the baby once he arrived. For the first time, he was glad to have a Jackie Tyler. "Rose has her own flat, but it's too small. There'll be plenty of time for the pair of you to sort things out after. And besides," he added, smirking. "Tony always wanted a little brother or sister."

"Uncle Tony," the Doctor mused. "The Tylers. Brilliant."

Just before Pete opened his mouth to reply, klaxons sounded and the Doctor was running towards the Birthing Suite before the page came over the system.

"All doctors required to the Birthing Suite. Emergency."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The Doctor was both pleased and outraged that the Torchwood staff had arrived before him. He was already in the process of taking off his jacket when he kicked the door in, sending nurses running away from it.

Rose was lying on the bed, a look of pain on her face. The monitor attached to her beeped steadily. Nobody looked as if they were panicking- only him. Even Rose looked relatively calm, all things considered. "Doctor," she greeted. "Reckon three to four hours was a bit of a stretch, yeah? My water just broke."

"Are all Tylers this impatient?" the Doctor asked as he slipped on his glasses again, thankful that the alarms hadn't signalled bad news.

"Us?" Rose demanded, gripping the railing of her bed. "If anyone's impatient, it's the bloody Time Lords, thank you very much."

"Excuse me, Captain Tyler? I'll need to hook this up," one of the doctors apologised. "It measures your contractions and administers appropriate pain relief."

He stole a look at the Doctor as Rose was nodding furiously. "Only if you hurry it up," Rose panted. "They're gettin' pretty close."

"Fine," the Doctor ordered, turning around to face Dr Harper. "Harper, is it? You're my backup. You job is to have everything ready for when the baby he's out. Machines, scanners, a bath, inoculations- all of it. And then, you're with Rose."

He leant in close. There was a familiarity about this doctor he couldn't put his finger on. He had Pete's approval and he seemed to be competent enough and the Doctor really couldn't be in two places at once- not anymore, at least. Rose would never forgive him if he didn't take care of of the baby, so he was trusting this man with the whole reason he was created.

"If anything," he said lowly, "happens to her, I'm holding you personally responsible. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Dr Harper replied and the next moment, he was barking orders to the other doctor and the team of nurses. The Doctor clapped his hands together as if to think.

Rose made another grunting noise and the Doctor remembered himself.

"Right. Contractions. Baby. Jackie?"

"She went out for a bite. You had a different schedule, if you recall. Ow, ow, ow!"

"No Jackie," he confirmed. "Excellent." He looked down at the readout the nurse had pressed into his hand. "Brilliant. Rose, I don't want you to be embarrassed but I need to check how much you're dilated. You're getting very close."

She stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "Embarrassed?" she clenched, holding the railing. The Doctor's regeneration hand ached as he watched her knuckles turn white with the strength she was gripping it. "You mean do I mind it's you lookin' at my bits and not the doctor I slapped when he told me I had to have a thorough body examination after each dimension jump? Just try and keep the blanket down, yeah?"

The Doctor wondered which unlucky sod in here had been on the receiving end of a Tyler slap and felt sorry for the poor bloke. The Doctor felt entirely methodical as he scrubbed up and snapped on latex gloves. He had never thought his vast amounts of medical and scientific knowledge would lead him here.

He had his answer within moments. It both pleased and terrified him because he and Rose's body were about to tell her to push. He briefly wondered what time of day it was and it shocked him because, as a Time Lord, he should know that. Everything in this body was different and so human and when he kept Rose's blanket up, shooting her an apologetic look, everything about it was wonderful.

"You're joking?" Rose asked as the Doctor looked up at her. "It's only been ten minutes!"

"Rose Tyler, I have a question for you," the Doctor said steadily as the Dr Harper signalled him from the side that everything was ready. "What do you get when you cross impatient biological metacrisis DNA with impatient Tyler DNA?"

Rose cried out and a nurse appeared at her side, helping her adjust her position. "What?!"

The Doctor grinned. "We're about to find out! Allonsy!"

o0o

Even thought he was a doctor and not to mention _the_ Doctor, and knew it was improbable, but he found himself moved beyond words at seeing the top of his son's newly cleaned head free of horns.

Everyone had been fantastic but none more so than his beautiful Rose, who had summoned all her strength and delivered him a quarter Time Lord baby. Everything had gone better than smoothly, with every station impeccably set up by Dr Harper behind them.

Everyone had cleared out and the Doctor had hidden his tears of utter joy as he handed their son, who had taken a total of twenty-four hours to make his appearance cleaned and safe in his parents' arms.

"Hello!" Rose had said, her entire face glowing from her quick labour. "I'm your Mum and you are a bit of a shock, little man."

The Doctor waved to his son. He had learned to speak to babies in his travels and was slightly disappointed to find out that his son wasn't going to speak the language anytime soon. He was on the slow road too but that suited the Doctor just fine.

Instead, the Doctor settled for waving at him. "Hello! Your mum is pretty brilliant if I do say so. I'm your Dad by the way. I grew out of a hand and good thing too, because I helped your mum a bit in making you. We're fast growers, you and I. And handsome too. And it looks like you've got my hair."

Rose smiled at him. "He could have done worse," she conceded. "I rather like the Gallifreyan hair. Speaking of Gallifreyan, is there somethin' you had in mind for a name?"

Rose. Rose, his wonderful, understanding and beautiful girl. "You want a Gallifreyan name?"

"Well, nothin' like the Gallifreyan word for banana but something else?"

He shook his head and marvelled as the newest quarter Time Lord wrapped his tiny hand around his finger. "Actually, I think I'd rather an Earth name." He paused. "What do you think about Jack?"

There was a moment of silence and Rose stared at him. Her face broke out into a smile. "Yeah," she said quietly. He imagined she thought about everyone that they had so recently left behind, all the way on the other side of the Void. Of the other Doctor whom she probably still loved but had let go, of the others, of Mickey and of Captain Jack Harkness. They were here for good now, a TARDIS only years and a piece of coral away, but still here and together.

"Jack," she repeated.

The sound of the door opening sent their gaze travelling to the other side of the room as Jackie and Pete strolled in. "Here I am getting everythin' organised, and do you think anyone bothers to ring and say my daughter's in labour? You're all idiots!"

The Doctor grinned and waved at her. "Jackie! Pete!"

He moved so Jackie and Pete had a good view of Rose and the bundle she held close. "Mum, Dad," she greeted. Jackie dropped the bag of takeaway she was holding and screeched.

"Oh my god! He's here already!" Pete was rewarded with a slap on the arm and within seconds, Jack was in his grandmum's arms.

The Doctor took the opportunity to sit on Rose's other side as her parents cooed over their son. "Not a bad job, if I do say so myself," he boasted. "And I suppose, you didn't do too badly yourself."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I saw you doin' all the hard work there, swelling up like a bloody elephant in the middle of the night without warning. Is that gonna happen often?"

He subconsciously touched his earlobe. "I suppose it might. Just like any other human, really. Unprotected...adult activities often do lead to a case of an adorable baby."

"Well you can forget having any unprotected anything," Rose stressed. "I mean, he's brilliant and all, but I'm not havin' a new one in six weeks or however long it takes for things to get right. I can't believe we're having this conversation," she groaned.

"Last night we were all moaning and bits showing and now we're responsible parents. It's mental," she added. "And you're all happy and proud dad and did you know Mum and Pete have set up Tony's old nursery? And Tony, I haven't even spoken to him properly since I got back! And the best thing is that it's quick and it's bizarre and it's alien and _you're still here_."

He grinned in response. "It is the best part, isn't it? Every day is going to be an adventure. The Tylers and the Doctor in Pete's World. It's completely brilliant."

And then, the Doctor was compelled to kiss Rose Tyler. And so he did.


End file.
